We Gulf Coast residents are, well, not very tough when it comes to the weather. Admit it. If you have to pull a coat out of the closet, you're not happy.

We complain about the heat and humidity in the summer, but that's when we feel the most comfortable. Well, not comfortable, but more in our element.

We don't like cold. What's more, weather here is confusing. It's not like northerners, who pretty much know for about five or six months out of the year they're wearing long sleeves and coats.

During this time of the year in this area, we could be wearing shorts. Then, the next day, it's 50 degrees. Maybe this is what we don't like, the unknown.

For runners, it's just as confusing. Especially when it comes to a race. Do you dress to stay warm for the minutes before the race and the post-race party, or do you suffer through that time and hope you warm up on the course?

This was the delimma facing myself and my friends Stephen and Bob in the minutes before the Bank Trust First Light Marathon in Mobile, Ala. on Sunday. Now here is where I have to tell you we didn't run the full marathon, we did the half. But that's not the point here. Let's get back to the fact that it was cold.

All three of us brought more clothes than we needed. The slick warm-up suits, long sleeve tech shirts, the tech undershirts, gloves, hats, you name it. If we could have pulled one of those gas heaters they have on the sidelines at Green Bay Packers football games, we would have.

So just before the start of the race, we had to make a decision: stay warm or hope to get warm running.

As usual, I opted for the least resistance. Shirt, shorts, that's it. It's not an attitude, you know, "I'm a runner and I don't need that stuff" thing. I really think it's laziness. Those tech undershirts are hard to put on. They're like suction cups on your skin. Takes a few minutes to put them on. So, it stayed on the hanger.

Bob and Stephen opted for the gloves and hat and two shirts. I've always suspected they are smarter than I am, and in the 15 minutes we waited for the start of the race -- and all I could do was jump up and down, over and over -- I came to the realization they certainly are.

Once the race started, however, we warmed up. As we cut through the neighborhoods -- and let me say, Mobile has some stunning neighborhoods close to downtown. There are a lot of houses built in the old-style architecture, similar to the old New Orleans neighborhoods. It was a great route, I highly recommend it. -- I felt that maybe I had made the right decision on clothing.

Stephen and I ran at a decent pace, around nine minutes per, and stayed steady. We finished at 1:55, and he crossed the finish line a couple seconds ahead of me with a PR. Bob was a little behind us, but came in much faster than he had projected. So for the three of us, the race was a big success.

Luckily, the cold didn't become a huge factor, there were times the wind picked up and cut you, but on this route you turned down several streets. So, on one street the wind was in your face, the next it didn't come into play.

That's why I figure we both made the right call on clothing. I cursed not having an extra shirt and gloves when the wind picked up and he and Bob probably wished they didn't have too much on when the wind died down.

The overall marathon winner was John Brigham of Mobile, who ran a time of 2:36. The female winner was Jennifer McGranahan of Pensacola, Fla., who came in at 3:19:18. There were 371 entries in the marathon, a good turnout.

The overall half marathon winner was Richard Ondimu of Mobile, who came in at 1:12. The overall female winner was Cherie Epstein of Pensacola, who ran a time of 1:31:23. There were 492 entries in the half marathon.